Tag Archives: safety

Accomplishments in Flight

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accomplishments in flightOne of the cooler things about flying is the ability to seek out and accomplish tangible goals. I don’t know about you, but I like having goals that I can strive for. 

I think that’s why sports are so popular, because you always have something to shoot for.  As adults, many of our hobbies take on this characteristic; if you are a runner you might be shooting to PR (personal record) a particular race; a golfer will always seek to lower their handicap; and the fisherman will go for that elusive biggest catch…you get the point. 

To be able to attain certain benchmarks makes all the hard work and sacrifice worthwhile, no matter what you are doing. This is just as true in flying as it is in other pursuits, maybe more so. The challenge of obtaining higher and/or more specialized licenses and ratings is something that we should all consider. It really has nothing to do with career aspirations anymore than an amateur golfer who buys pro golf clubs; it’s about raising your current game. 

And it doesn’t stop there. Your achievement will elevate your skills and your confidence and it will do something else that might not have thought possible – it will make flying MORE fun! Even if you aren’t exercising those privileges often, or ever, this new level of proficiency will be guaranteed to enhance your current flying – take my word for it! Continue reading →

Situational Awareness: Do you know where your airplane is?

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aviation safety SA

The concept of Situational Awareness (SA), goes back as far as Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, but where it really starts to show up in America is in the military, during WWI. For most of us, Situational Awareness was attached to human factors work being conducted in the 1990s, and it is still pervasive today in aircrew training. 

There are several definitions out there, but the most widely accepted being, “the perception of elements in the environment within a volume of time and space, the comprehension of their meaning, and the projection of their status in the near future” (Endsley, 1995)
 
In our everyday flying we would do well to maintain SA to avoid unwanted surprises that can range from, a minor inconvenience to a complete disaster. Case in point, virtually all CFIT (Controlled Flight into Terrain) accidents are caused by loss of situational awareness. This has been a bitter pill for many. How can a perfectly good airplane, under control of its pilot, fly into the ground? There are many great books out there that discuss Situational Awareness. One of my favorite authors on the subject is Tony Kern. He had dedicated a lifetime to improving aviation safety and has written several outstanding books.
 
One of the largest ingredients in maintaining situational awareness is to not let yourself become distracted. Distraction has been cited in a number of high-profile accidents that are almost too unrealistic to believe, but they are true. Don’t dismiss this threat. In our modern electronic world, it is easier than ever to become distracted.
 
Task saturation is another threat to situational awareness. When we get overloaded, we lose our ability to gauge what is happening around us. It’s like looking at the world through a funnel and the more we get tasked, the narrower our field of view. We also lose orientation with respect to time in these instances. Our natural perception of time can be completely distorted. 
 
Complacency is sometimes referred to as the silent killer because it sneaks up on you. Sometimes complacency is systemic in the individual or it could be just a momentary lapse.  Being lackadaisical, taking things for granted, or otherwise having an attitude that “bad things only happen to other people,” is a great way to end up a statistic. Never take for granted that you are hurdling yourself at very high speeds through the air and that is not a forgiving environment.
 
SItuational awareness is the bedrock of safe flying. Even if everything else is in place; good pilot, good equipment, and good systems, not having a handle on your situation will make all those elements null-and-void. 
 
There is a lot more that can be said, but I wanted to keep it simple and dismiss with all the theory. We can all relate to the information above and it’s important that we avoid re-learning any of those lessons. 
 
Heads up!
 
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9 Simple Ways to Keep From Killing Yourself in an Airplane

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We are going to explore a few commonsense ways to stay out of trouble out there. The headline is a bit of a “grabber”, the point remains that flying is unforgiving. It can be extremely safe, but we can’t take that for granted.


number 1Keep flying the airplane. This is a huge issue. Flying in this era of onboard gadgets, it’s super-easy to forget to fly the airplane. This implications of this are potentially disastrous. This afflicts light airplanes and airliners alike. The outcomes are the same.



number 2
Don’t hit anything, especially the ground. CFIT (or scud running) and hot-dogging have claimed a lot of lives. As an RV-driver the sporty handing of the lineage seems to promote this kind of flying, but no one is immune. Make sure you have situational awareness (CFIT). Don’t be a stunt pilot (hot-dogging). 


number 3
Keep fuel in the tanks. Pouring over accident reports you would be amazed at how many of them involve not having fuel in the airplane. No one wakes up in the morning and plans to run their tanks dry, but it happens with all too much regularity.



number 4

Don’t fly VFR into IMC. Seems simple but in spite of all this high-tech stuff on our airplanes , pilots still violate this tenant that was written in blood.




number 5
Don’t panic. If something abnormal occurs the ability to keep your head is very important. Some one that freezes up or reacts irrationally with inevitably make a bad matter worse.



number 6
Stay proficient. The best safety device is a proficient pilot (not the parachute). Pilots lacking in this area are not only ill-equipped to handle an emergency, they are likely to produce one.



number 7
Maintain your airspeed. You may have heard that airspeed is life and that’s true, except the AOA evangelist are screaming at their monitors right now. Too often airspeed, or more accurately AOA, is allowed to degrade in a position that doesn’t allow for an adequate recovery.


number 8
Keep your eyes outside. Mid-air collisions are right up there with in-flight fires as being the scariest thing that can happen in an airplane. Just this week another mid-air claimed four lives in Phoenix. Tragic, and maybe unavoidable, but it might have been prevented with eyes outside of the cockpit.

number 9Keep flying the airplane. We ended where we started, flying the airplane is the most important thing you can do. If you have an engine failure, for example, and you try to stretch the glide and stall/spin into the ground versus a controlled landing in the trees, you will get two completely different outcomes. Flying the airplane doesn’t just mean not being distracted, it also means making it stay in your control. Landing upright with a relatively low sink rate is what you are after – no matter the terrain.

by Brent Owens

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Plan Continuation Bias

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I penned an article for General Aviation News this week about a Human Factors condition known as Plan Continuation Bias, we know it as “get-there-itis.”

I thought folks that come here would enjoy it as well. 

Without giving it away, I will say that this human condition is in all of us and I have yet to find any documents that offer any countermeasures. In the article linked above, I take a stab at some commonsense techniques to avoid falling into the trap of the old “get-home-itis” syndrome. 

human factors aviation

So if you are interested, I encourage you to jump over to GA News and check it out. If you have thoughts or if you like it (or hate it), please leave a comment over there or here.

by Brent Owens

7 Habits of Highly Effective Aviators

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7 Habits of Highly Effective Aviators
superman fly likeHabit 1 – Seeks perfection. I believe this is a key trait and it should not be limited to the professional. If you always strive to be the best, you’ll need to know how to accept coming up short without being frustrated. If you fall down you just dust yourself off and get back on the horse. 

 

promoting aviationHabit 2 – Is an ambassador. Successful pilots are advocates for aviation. They look at it from a team perspective. We all win or lose together in this small community. With aviation under attack it is never more important than to be lobbying for our cause.

 

crystal ballHabit 3 – Always thinking ahead. This is just good airmanship, but knowing how to see the way forward is hugely important. At a macro level this involves seeing where you’ll be in 10 years as an aviator or at the micro level, it’s staying ahead of the airplane in a given maneuver or procedure. 

 

fonzHabit 4 – Doesn’t let the ego get out of control. As a pilot It’s good to have a healthy ego. This business of flying airplanes isn’t for the meek. But there are all kinds of problems associated with an over-inflated ego. It’s a balance that isn’t always easy to manage for some of us, but the best aviators have this dialed in.

 

safe flyingHabit 5 – Values safety and manages risk. Successful pilots must respect the need to be safe. Risk management is a large part of what we do as pilots, the good ones give it the appropriate amount of attention. The bad ones just create more statistics and make it hard for the rest of us. Continue reading →

FAASTeam Safety Seminar

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FAAST meetingLast weekend our local EAA and IAC Chapters hosted the annual joint safety seminar. We also have a FAASTeam representative there so we can give FAA Wings credit to whomever attends.

The last couple of years, the venue has been PrimeAero at Marysville airport here in Central Ohio. They are gracious hosts and let us use their heated hangar (it was a little chilly as Winter doesn’t want to give up to Spring yet).

By my count there were just under 50 people in attendance – not bad for a blustery day in this part of the world.

Speakers included IAC 34 President Dr. Jeff Granger, who provided an introduction to the International Aerobatic Club (IAC) and competition flying in general. It was a great talk and I always pick up a thing or two when I hear Jeff speak.

I was next up with a brief talk on Plan Continuation Bias, more on that topic in an upcoming post.

After me, was Gordon Penner. Gordon, is a Master CFI – Aerobatics and also a professional pilot, flying 747s for his day job. Gordon’s talks are always very informative and he delivers them in the perfect style for aviator – direct and to the point. His discussions on stall/spins and roll coupling are worth hearing (he has a webinar on EAA.org – link here). We are really lucky to have an aviation educator of his caliber in our local area!

Next was FAASTeam Representative, pilot, and AME, Dr. Robert Lewis. He gave a talk about aeromedical certification and also on hypoxia. Dr. Lewis also went on to host a thorough discussion on taildragger flying – one of my favorite topics.

All in all it was a great way to spend a cloudy, windy, cold day in Ohio and I came away smarter than before – which is always a plus.

by Brent Owens

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Timing is everything

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Timing magnetos

Timing is everything
When it comes to aviation, timing is certainly everything. I pondered this as my friend Bob and I worked on timing the magnetos on his yet to be born, RV-10.

You see, the mags have to be aligned and adjusted to precisely fire the spark plugs at just the right time to ignite the fuel air mixture in each cylinder. It is a beautifully orchestrated dance when the timing is on, but when it’s not, it’s a train wreck!
The same can be said for a lot if things in life, but in the field of flying time is vital, it is the fabric of how we move through each and every event.
magneto slick
Accidents
Since virtually every incident or accident is a confluence of multiple events, we note that timing is really the most important player. I refer to Mr. Reason’s Swish Cheese Model. Two airplanes collide due to impeccably bad timing. Fuel exhaustion occurs when we don’t manage our time properly. One hour the weather at the destination is fine, the next it’s not, again time is at play. None of these threats can manifest without time as the vehicle.
Careers
I was at diner recently with a friend who flies for a major airline, and while he had some early breaks and got to “the show” at a relatively young age – he’s still in the right seat after almost two decades – timing. The industry is very cyclical and even if you exploit the cycle well earlier in your career, it does mean you won’t get smacked down later in the game.
Not to be negative, the truth is thousands of pro pilots have stellar careers, but some have careers that mimic a poorly timed 4 cylinder Lycoming, utterly random and very rough. My personal success in aviation is largely attributed to good timing.
magneto lycoming
Life
Certainly the timing of life circumstances has a significant influence on our flying. Marriage, kids, career, health, prosperity and a host of other good or bad things can all create or destroy our flying dreams. Some persevere, other succumb, but it’s really all about timing.
Final Analysis
As we move through space, time can be our friend or it can be our foe. I would suggest we employ the former to the extent possible in our life and in our flying. 
If only it were as scripted and predictable as adjusting those magnetos, of course that might take all the fun out of it.
Maybe this explains why pilots like big watches.
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Nap of the Earth: Flying low

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Editorial disclaimer: These are my views and opinions alone. Operate at your own risk.

flying low

I recently watched a very popular YouTube video that illustrated the beauty of nap of the Earth flying. The pilot, flying a J-3, is very experienced and very familiar with the area he was flying. Link here: http://youtu.be/X_Kt_CxXxtA

I will go ahead and state for the record, and in spite of my safety-promotional-ways, that I am not opposed to this type of flying, but…

The problem we get into in this day-and-age of viral videos is that some might watch something like this and then immediately feel compelled to emulate it with no thought of the legalities, hazards, or physics involved. In the unlikely event that I produce a low flying video it will have disclaimers all over it so as not to encourage someone to take unnecessary risks.

There are thousands of aviation professionals that make their living flying low all day long so we know it can be done legally and safely.

But, and it’s a big BUT, these folks are trained to do this kind of flying and they generally aren’t carrying innocent bystanders or showing off. The latter two are what have gotten pilots into trouble.

They know the area they are operating so ground-based hazards can be avoided. This is one of the things that almost ended my career before it ever started (article here).

Also, the professionals aren’t down there buzzing friends or family (not legal – see FAR references below), so they avoid the whole stall-spin hazard that folks get into. By the way, the video I watched didn’t have any of that kind of flying, just low n’ slow in a J-3 Cub.

Finally, the professional understands the physics involved with staying out of box canyons or what to do in case of an engine failure.

I’m always amazed that many of the amateur videos show low flying over water. It is spectacular, but if the engine fails and you don’t have enough energy to get to land, it going to be a very bad day. If you are in a fixed gear aircraft you should expect to flip over as soon as the gear touches the water. The sudden stop will probably render you and your passenger unconscious and upside under water. Chances of survival are very low. In fact two people perished in a Cub leaving Oshkosh after ditching in Lake Winnebago with eyewitnesses watching it happen. The Cub wouldn’t have had a lot of energy hitting the water, but with no shoulder harness…well you can figure out the rest.

The regulation (14 CFR 91.119) is clear. 1000′ from person or property or 500′ from person or property in “non-congested” areas. What isn’t as clear is 14 CFR 91.13 Careless and Reckless.  It is so broad that if you have an accident or hurt someone, you can expect that to be added to your list of condemnations. Also, each FAA guy or gal has their own interpretation, so you should go ahead and assume there will be some risk of regulatory entanglement if your low level sortie isn’t carefully scripted and executed (and even then you never know). Worst case someone gets hurt. Note this Stearman pilot in Wisconsin was charged with homicide after striking wires on a low level flight with a passenger - 2007 Aero-News Network article here.

flying low in a J-3 Cub

My intent isn’t to say you can never fly below pattern altitude, nor do I want to scare anyone. My intent is to make sure you have considered all of the risks and how to mitigate them before you do something that you might regret, especially if you are carrying passengers.

Flying low is a polarizing subject, so let’s hear your opinions. Don’t worry, you won’t offend me.

Enjoy the view!

by Brent Owens                                                          Subscribe to this flying blog

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Lessons learned: Cessna 421 “The boss’s open door policy”

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C-421

Flying is an amalgamation of victories and defeats, thrills and chills.

Therefore let us not forget, “there but for the grace of God, go I.”

This fine Summer day dawned really beautifully. I had a trip for an owner of a C-421B from KDUC (Duncan, OK) to M25 (Mayfield, KY). We were under contract to manage the airplane, which was owned by a construction company. 
 
This trip was to take my passengers to Mayfield, KY and then the aircraft owner (non pilot) and I would go to Tullahoma, TN for the night. 
 
We dropped off 5 happy construction workers for their weekend off and saddled up for the relatively short hop to TN. The owner was in a hurry to get home too and with the CAVU (ceiling and visibility unlimited) weather it didn’t take long to be underway. 
The 421 has an airstair arrangement on the left side of the fuselage behind the wing composed of a bottom (stair) and a top (window) that clamshells together.
As I was trained, I always closed and secured the door myself only this time, as the owner followed me into the airplane, he said he would get it. Normally I wouldn’t even consider having a passenger secure it, except he had owned the airplane for years. I assumed he was more than familiar with how it works – many of you are shaking your head right about now.
 
I started engines and taxied to the end of the relatively short runway. After a quick run-up, scan for traffic, and a radio call, we took the runway.
 
Power up, brake release, acceleration normal, and we roared down the runway. 
 
As soon as I rotated, I heard a loud pop and lots of air noise coming from the behind me, followed by the Owner yelling something unintelligible. 
 
It didn’t take long to figure out what happened. The top of the door was wide open. 
 
I should mention that the 421 is pressurized so the cabin pressure, combined with slip stream, is what opened the improperly latched door. 
1968_cessna_421a_50c4f10d6177bcessna-421-welcome-aboard
 
I was mindful of my speed not wanting the top clam shell to impale itself into the horizontal stab. I also pulled the props back to keep the propwash at a minimum.
 
We stayed in the pattern and landed uneventfully. 
 
Total flight time: under 5 minutes!
The cause: The owner left the safety chain off the door handle. 
 
So there are a few valuable lessons to be learned here:
  • Never assume when it comes to flying. Trust but verify, as a former President said
  • Don’t let anyone, other than trained crew members accomplish safety sensitive functions
  • Don’t let the customer (or anyone) rush you
  • Keep cool when things are going wrong – this was the only part I got right. Doors have brought down lots of airplanes, mostly because of the distraction

As has been said many times, flying is amazing, but it’s also extremely unforgiving of mistakes.

Fly safe!

by Brent Owens                                                         Subscribe to this flying blog

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New Aviation Resources page

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pilot resources

I am pleased to add this new page to iFLYblog.com called Aviation Resources. You will always find it at the top of each page in the navigation bar.

The goal is to provide a single click where folks can go to see what I recommend in terms of products and more importantly, where you can find free stuff. This will be ever expanding so you’ll want to check it periodically.

aviation resources

If you have any recommendations on what should be in there, let me know – remember this is your blog.

by Brent Owens                                                           Subscribe to this flying blog

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